AGENDA ITEM #: 4.
DATE: December 3, 2025
CAR #: AI-2856
CASE #: P25-00128 |
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Planning & Zoning Commission - AMENDED ACTION REPORT
| SUBJECT: |
RIO 1900 MINOR GENERAL PLAN AMENDMENT
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| STAFF PRESENTER(S): |
Ann Dolmage, Principal Planner |
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| OTHER PRESENTER(S): |
| Brian Greathouse, Burch & Cracchiolo |
| SUMMARY: |
This is a public hearing to request a Minor General Plan Amendment on approximately thirty-one (31) acres generally located west of Assessor’s Parcel Number 400-03-002C and south of Assessor’s Parcel Number 502-59-007A, from Open Space to Neighborhoods.
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| RECOMMENDATION: |
- Conduct a public hearing to consider a Minor General Plan Amendment to the Goodyear 2035 General Plan to amend the land use designation of approximately thirty-one (31) acres generally located west of Assessor’s Parcel Number 400-03-002C and south of Assessor’s Parcel Number 502-59-007A from Open Space to Neighborhoods; requiring an amendment to Exhibit 3.3 Land Use Plan & Transportation Plan in Chapter 3 of the Goodyear 2035 General Plan; and providing for an effective date.
- Recommend approval of the request for a Minor General Plan Amendment to the Goodyear 2035 General Plan to amend the land use designation of approximately thirty-one (31) acres generally located west of Assessor’s Parcel Number 400-03-002C and south of Assessor’s Parcel Number 502-59-007A from Open Space to Neighborhoods; requiring an amendment to Exhibit 3.3 Land Use Plan & Transportation Plan in Chapter 3 of the Goodyear 2035 General Plan; and providing for an effective date (Ann Dolmage, Principal Planner).
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| STIPULATIONS: |
| Not applicable. |
| FISCAL IMPACT: |
Although a fiscal impact analysis has not been conducted on this specific project, all new development will have an ongoing fiscal impact on the city. The development is responsible for construction of all infrastructure necessary to serve the site and will generate one-time revenue for the city through payment of permits, construction sales tax and development impact fees. Longer term fiscal impacts include increased demands for municipal services, the costs of which may or may not be offset by increased property values/tax levies, city sales tax, state shared revenues and the increased demand for commercial and retail development. Any areas that will be maintained by the city are constructed by the developer and then conveyed to the city two years after construction.
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| BACKGROUND AND PREVIOUS ACTIONS: |
The request affects thirty-one (31) acres (the “Property”) within a forty (40)-acre parcel that is currently owned by the Arizona State Land Department. The parcel has not been assigned an Assessor’s Parcel Number or physical address. The Property is generally located west of Assessor’s Parcel Number 400-03-002C and south of Assessor’s Parcel Number 502-59-007A, on the south side of the Gila River and approximately 2,800 feet west of Cotton Lane, as depicted in that document titled General Plan Land Use Plan & Transportation Plan - Existing, attached as Exhibit A to Resolution 2025-XXXX (see Attachment A to this report). The entire 40-acre parcel is currently designated as Open Space in the Goodyear 2035 General Plan (the “General Plan”), which was ratified by a vote of the citizens of Goodyear on May 21, 2024.
The forty (40)-acre parcel is included in a concurrent Rezone request for 1,940 acres known as Rio 1900 (formerly King Ranch). The Rezone will permit a range of uses within Rio 1900 to include residential, commercial, civic, and open space uses, as well as a potential resort. The applicant for the Rezone and this Minor General Plan Amendment is in the process of purchasing this parcel from the State of Arizona via auction. The State of Arizona has provided an owner authorization letter granting permission for the applicant to seek approval of this Minor General Plan Amendment while the parcel remains in their ownership.
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| STAFF ANALYSIS |
Current Policy:
Chapter 10 of the General Plan defines which types of changes to the General Plan require a Major or Minor General Plan Amendment, and which types are exempt from amendments altogether. A change to a land use category between 20.0 acres and 159.9 acres requires a Minor General Plan Amendment. A Minor General Plan Amendment requires one public hearing before the Planning and Zoning Commission and one public hearing before the City Council.
Details of the Request:
The owner of the Property has applied to rezone a total of 1,940 acres from King Ranch Planned Area Development (PAD) to Rio 1900 PAD, to facilitate the development of a master planned community containing residential, commercial, civic, and open space uses, as well as a potential resort hotel. The 1,940 acres in the PAD extend east to west from Estrella Parkway across Cotton Lane to the alignment of 187th Avenue, and north to south from Gila River to the northern edge of Estrella.
Within this 1,940-acre rezone area, there is a forty (40)-acre parcel that falls entirely within the Open Space land use designation of the 2035 General Plan. These forty (40) acres include nine (9) acres that are located within the Gila River floodway channel, and thirty-one (31) acres that are located outside of the channel. The owner plans to develop the thirty-one (31) acres outside of the channel with residential uses, but these uses are not compatible with the Open Space designation, therefore a minor amendment to the General Plan is required prior to the rezone and development of the Property. The request proposes to change the designation of the Property to Neighborhoods, to align with the majority land use designation for the remainder of the Rio 1900 Rezone area. The remaining nine (9) acres of the parcel will remain in the Open Space land use designation. The proposed rezoning will be considered by separate action if Council approves this proposed General Plan Amendment.
An aerial photo and project narrative for this Minor General Plan Amendment request can be found as Attachments B and C to this report.
Evaluation Criteria:
Further information about the Evaluation Criteria applicable to this Minor General Plan Amendment can be found in Attachment D to this report.
Public Participation:
One combined in-person Neighborhood Meeting was conducted for this proposal and the concurrent Rezone proposal. Notice of the Neighborhood Meeting was provided to property owners within 500 feet of the property on June 17, 2025, and signs advertising the Neighborhood Meeting were placed on the site on June 19, 2025. The neighborhood meeting took place on July 8, 2025. Twenty-three (23) members of the public attended the meeting, which followed an open house format. Topics discussed were mostly focused on the broader Rezone request rather than the Minor General Plan Amendment request. These topics included density; water; emergency access; types of housing and commercial expected (including the likelihood of a resort); transportation issues (including the timing of Cotton Lane widening and separation of bicycle lanes from roadway corridors for safety); protections for hillside areas, drainageways, and habitat; and timing or phasing of development.
Staff have also received several calls and emails about the Rio 1900 project, again mostly oriented towards the Rezone request rather than the Minor General Plan Amendment. Many of these calls and emails came in around the time of the neighborhood meeting and were information-seeking requests for development plans, construction timing estimates, and similar topics. One resident expressed concerns about impacts to wildlife habitat, air quality, noise pollution, and other environmental concerns, as well as traffic and congestion, crime, and the proliferation of data centers and industrial buildings in the city. An additional resident echoed the concerns about air quality (mostly as it pertains to construction activities), the potential for a resort hotel near her neighborhood, and the loss of open space and views in the area.
A public notice that the Minor General Plan Amendment request would be considered and reviewed at a public hearing to be held before the Planning and Zoning Commission on December 3, 2025, appeared in the Arizona Business Gazette – Republic Edition on November 14, 2025; postcards were mailed to adjoining owners on November 12, 2025; and signs were updated on the site with the hearing date on November 14, 2025.
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